Well... Here I go again...

The various bits have arrived. And it has to be said that things could be simpler.

As you can see, the boiler and firebox are part of the footplate - the cab, which, alas is not correct for the rebuilt loco, detaches. Removing them is not going to be as straight forward as it was on the Manor. On the other hand, the body is just made of plastic - the weight is part of the chassis. On the gripping hand, nothing's impossible, and while it's not going to be a case of just sawing away, a little careful drilling should solve a few problems

This is the new boiler. It's going to need a new smokebox door - yes, that's right, it doesn't come with one. Smoke deflectors I can take or leave. Actually, since I don't like them very much, I'm quite glad that they weren't included, as they might have been difficult to remove.

And here's the bottom part of the firebox. I had to remove this from the Britannia chassis - although compared to the B17 at least it didn't affect the pickups, which are now... a different sort of pickup. I would have had to remove this anyway, as there isn't a firebox there on a Garratt.

[With regard to the Garratt, at least the pivot isn't exactly where the worm was, which I thought it was at first. Also, it looks as if the drive shaft will go under the smokebox, so the motor can fit in the boiler. Possibly fit both motors under it and drive both ends. Whether I'll be able to get away with just one chip... One thing that may be a fly in the ointment is getting the trailing bogie close enough. ]

Oh, and the drawbar hook is exactly where I'd want to put the trailing bogie... Which is possibly awkward.

Anyway... onward Christian Barnard.